Day 19 - 14 September 2012

Was up at 0500 this morning and out of the door around 0515. Headed over to talk to Meagan and the kiddos. Taylor seemed excited about Scouts and school. He's still really excited about selling popcorn and the prospects of earning a super soaker water gun! Emma apparently didn't want to talk, as Meagan said she started to come and then turned around and went away.

Looks like my being gone and Meagan having issues will continue with this trip. Before my deployment, we had the cat get attacked and she had her wisdom teeth out. Now, the air conditioner is acting up. The good news is that we have a warranty. However, we aren't sure how long. According to the Carrier website, we should have registered within 90 days to get a 10-year warranty. However, I don't recall anyone telling me this when I bought the house. Regardless, we should still have a minimum 5-year warranty. Meagan gave me the serial numbers and I put the information in online. I'm thinking I may contact Carrier to see what they say.

Sent an email off to Carrier, explaining the situation. I'm not sure what they'll say, as it's been 2 1/2 years since we moved in. I sure wish someone would have explained that I needed to submit registration forms for this stuff, if that truly is the case. We'll see. Perhaps the installers have more information. Meagan will get in touch with them and find out.

Went and picked up my laundry. I guess that's the good thing about being gone for half a week; you're guaranteed it's done! Brought it back, stripped my uniform, put on a clean one, and went to drop off my next load. I would normally wait until the next day, but they only do linens tomorrow; so, I can't drop off my regular laundry. No worries though. It's done! Ok...off to nap for a couple of hours before lunch!

Got up and did some fidling with the laptop and netbook. Essentially, I would like to move all of my music over. However, I think that is a task I will have to start and let it run overnight. I set up an ad hoc network (private wireless connection) between the two, but my netbook cannot see my laptop. The laptop can see the netbook just fine. So, I am a bit confused. I did manage to get all of my pictures loaded over to the netbook, but now I have a LOT of music to move...my whole library of +200GB worth! At this point, I'm not even sure it will all fit. So, that's something I will try to tackle after work tonight.

Lunch was ok...nothing looked too appetizing, so I opted for an Afghanistan Big Mac (cheeseburger with pickles and thousand island dressing), beans, onion rings, macaroni salad, and carrot salad. It was decent and, as much as I've heard some complain, it's free...I just can't wait to cook my own meals again. That said, tonight is steak night! :) I hope it's as good as last week!

My First Care Package!

On my way into work, I stopped into the superintendent's office to get my package from Meagan and the kiddos. My first thought, upon picking it up, was that she had decided to send Cleo. It was a heavy box! When I got it to the shop and opened it up, I was met with a LOT of packages and some notes...brought a smile to my face. Let's see...I got cool mint Oreos (heck yeah!), a poker set, a bunch of Nekot cookies (double heck yeah!), coffee (finally coffee WITH caffeine), pink lemonade mix, popcorn, movie, remote control cars, an Army guy, a motivational book (I'm sure I'll read on flights), and SOFT toilet paper!!! I also received a heart from Meagan, which I instantly put in my right breast pocket of my uniform; so, she'll be with me wherever I go.

All the Goodies!

We went to dinner and, as I said earlier, STEAK NIGHT! :) The steak here is a heck of a lot better than it was in Iraq, that's for sure. I had steak, green beans, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and some fresh bread with cinnamon butter...it was pretty darn good!

Wind is howling here tonight...we're hitting 35 knots (40 miles per hour) pretty consistently. So, we have a ton of wind and a LOT of dust. Basically, in desert terms, it's nasty outside.

Had an exciting moment at work tonight. After a strange email, which started to send us down the wrong road, we made some calls and found out one system was misconfigured. Once we got the correct data into the system, ba-da-bing! Woohoo!

First Cup of Coffee
in the Emma Sherard
Original Coffee Mug

So...I fired up the ol' microwave to have some CAFFEINATED coffee tonight, thanks to my most wonderful wife! Oh, and special thanks to the kiddos for the custom-made mugs with which to enjoy said coffee. The mug pictured here was designed by my sweet little darling Emma! She even decorated the inside of the mug! My plan is to keep hers here at work and take Taylor's back to my room so I can stop off at the USO for free coffee in the mornings prior to the daily family conference call! ;) I'm such a lucky guy to have those three in my life!

I had a good chat with one of the guys at work tonight; well, after work. We were talking religion and family. We just shared a little background on each. After we were done chatting, I headed over to the USO with my Taylor Sherard Original coffee mug for a cup of coffee and to read the first chapter of the book Meagan sent me, 100 Daily Devotions for People Who Serve on the Front Lines.

The first chapter talks about the turbulent times and how God will help us through those times. I don't think I could agree more! The first several days to a week after I left were pretty rough; Meagan can say the same. However, keeping faith and knowing there is a plan certainly does help. I say a little grace each time I sit down to a meal and it gives me comfort. I pray for myself, those I am working with, those who are here fighting, and those I love dearly in my life. It does bring me peace in these turbulent times apart from the normal life and those I cherish so much!

Ok...I just got the pictures loaded and it's time to say goodnight. I have to get up early to talk to my three biggest loves in life! Night all...and God bless!